Camellia
by AnnurTsubaki
Summary: He didn't belong with that team. He had us, yet he longed for them. Was being in a team with us not enough? I was pretty sure my crystal release could rival his mokuton, but I couldn't rival the place he reserved for Team Seven in his heart. Not yet.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Yamato**

Yamato. My new team member. I had been assigned to his three-man squad since two months ago. We had gone through a few missions together, yet I felt secluded. Kakashi was back with Team Seven while _he_ was assigned a new team with me and Inuzuka Hana, yet he was distant. It was like his heart was still with them and not with us.

He was Team Seven's captain. _Was._ It was never his place to begin with. It was Kakashi's. He was just a replacement for the copy-nin. Now that Sasuke had come back, Kakashi had resumed his position with the original Team Seven. The other replacement member of Team Seven, Sai, had also been re-assigned to a three-man squad with Uzuki Yugao and Uzumaki Karin, the red-head who was tagging along when Sasuke came back to Konoha. Sasuke brought back another two shinobi with him; Juugo and Suigetsu. Those two were not assigned a team, but put under supervision of Mitarashi Anko. When I came to Konoha for the first time, I too, was put under surveillance for quite some times. It was Naruto who convinced the Godaime Hokage to accept me as Konoha shinobi.

In between missions, sometimes I caught him looking at Team Seven in a longing that seemed pitiful. Sai was seen a few times hanging with Team Seven because his teammate Karin was fond of Sasuke and would do almost anything to get closer to him, and because Naruto was a great friend to anyone he came upon with. Yet to me it seemed like there was no place for Yamato in that group. The team was already a complete one, even without him as an addition.

Yesterday, he treated me and Hana to some ramen. I knew he had missed his time there with Team Seven, and I decided not to say anything about it to him. Hana noticed that too, of course. And we chose to let him be.

Today, Tsunade gave us a joint mission with Team Seven. We were to escort a group of merchants from Konoha to Nadeshiko Village and acted as the intermediary between the women in the village and the merchants.

I knew that Yamato and Naruto had been there once, which was why both teams were chosen in this mission. If it was me, I would only choose Yamato, Naruto and another shinobi who was familiar with the village instead of putting our two teams together. But then again, I was not the Hokage. And I did not know the reason on why she had chosen two teams to undergo this mission. Seven shinobi would not make the mission stealthy.

"Yamato- _taichou,_ do you think they will force me to fight them again?" Naruto was grinning when he asked Yamato that question. All eyes in the room averted to him. I saw curiousness in everyone present.

"Do you wish them to?"

"Nope. I don't want to marry any one of them."

"What? They want you to marry one of them _? You_?" Sakura was laughing. She seemed to think lowly of him compared to Sasuke, the star of the team. Even Sasuke was smirking at the thought of that. I hated the double standard she was showing to Naruto, though she seemed oblivious to that fact herself.

"What? Do you think I'm not attractive enough?" Naruto pouted. He turned to me as if asking for my opinion. "Guren, do you think I'm attractive?"

"Well..I would sa-" My words were intercepted.

"Enough! You're to be at the rendezvous point in an hour. Go back and prepare for it instead of chatting here!" Tsunade, the Godaime, slammed her fist on the desk, splitting it into two. Silence filled the air. No one dared to speak, not even Kakashi.

" _Baa-chan_ , you don't have to be so serious. We get it. See you later." Naruto was the first to break the silence. He walked out from the Hokage's room, and we followed him.

"Naruto, I know you've been to the village before. What happened?" I asked him, curious of the event. Hana was walking silently by my side.

"Oh, nothing much. They wanted to fight me because I'm _Ero-sennin's_ student. If I win, I'll have to marry one of them. I already forgot the woman's name though." Naruto explained while we were walking in tow.

"If I'm not mistaken, you're with Yamato at that time." Kakashi decided to join the conversation. I noticed a slight uneasiness in Yamato's demeanor.

" _Senpai_ , we were only there to re-stock our supplies. Besides, Guy and Aoba were with us." Yamato explained as if he was trying not to make Kakashi mistook him. I did not know why though.

"Chill, Yamato. I'm only stating the fact." Kakashi replied, but I sensed venom in his voice. What was wrong with the copy-nin? Why was he being so all high and mighty in front of my teammate?

"Please call me Tenzou, senpai."

I did not hear the rest of their conversation as I was indulged in my thought. It seemed that there were a lot of things that I was yet to grasp. Konoha was the first choice that came in my mind when I thought of a place to return to. Because this was the place Yukimaru was buried after we were ambushed during our travel. My crystal release was enough to defeat the perpetrator, but Yukimaru was poisoned while I was not looking. I rushed us to Konoha's hospital, which was the nearest, but death was unavoidable. And I had been here ever since.

"Guren!" Someone called my name.

"Guren!" Hana shook my body, pulling me out from my thought.

"Huh? Wh-what?" I was startled.

"What was that?" She asked, pointing to the crystallized camellia in my hand. The only memento left of Yukimaru. I did not realize that I put it out unconsciously.

"This..It's a memento." I felt forlorn saying the words. "Wait, where's everyone?" I noticed that we were the ones left.

"They were already gone. We'll meet at the gate in twenty minutes. I'll see you there." Hana left after saying that to me. I just nodded and saw her leaving.

In twenty minutes, we would have our missions. I would get to see Yamato reunited with Team Seven, like he had longed for. But, was it for the better, or for worse?

…..


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 : Compound**

Nothing unusual happened during our mission to Nadeshiko Village. I had to admit that I had hoped for 'something' to happen. Like a quarrel between Kakashi and Yamato, or another marriage proposal to Naruto. But then again, I should be glad that our mission went well. I had spent most of my time with Hana, though sometimes Sakura would join us to avoid getting involved when her teammates were bickering to each other.

Escorting the merchants back to Konoha should be easy. The valuable goods were already traded, and the money was safe. How hard could it be to guard some merchants? That was what I thought before I heard a strange sound. In a blink of an eye, we were ambushed at the river bank while resting!

Everyone was quick to counter the attack. I, on the other hand, was shocked to see Yukimaru amongst the attacker. How come he was alive? Then again, I remembered Kabuto. What a sneaky bastard! When did he resurrected him?!

"Guren, what are you doing? Protect the merchants! Hana and Sakura will assist you." Yamato shouted at me, pushing me to the back where the said merchants were. Hana and Sakura were quick to come to my assist.

"This is so not like you. Why are you hesitating?" Hana questioned me while fending off the attackers. I did not answer her. Instead, I left them and went to where Yamato and the rest of the guys were. I chose to ignore them calling me back to protect the merchants.

Yamato threw a shuriken at Yukimaru, but I countered it with my crystal lance. Quickly I rushed forward and confronted all the Konoha-nins with Yukimaru at my back. Yamato was shocked, but he remained his composure.

"Your teammate betrayed us, Tenzou. How nice." Kakashi was eyeing me while saying that to Yamato. I held my lance tightly, ready to attack.

"She's not, Kakashi-sensei. That's Yukimaru. She was just protecting him. As she had always done." To my shock, Naruto was backing me up. I gritted my teeth.

"I'm sorry." I said to the Konoha-nins. I glanced and saw Hana's glaring at me at the back of the team. She would probably doubt my loyalty now. _Great._

"Guren, duck!" Yamato yelled, but I suddenly became numb, unable to move. Someone from behind my back charged forward. And then there Yamato was, taking a kunai to his chest when he came to my rescue. One of Yukimaru's team members had stabbed him. _Instead of me._

The last thing I saw before I fainted was Yamato shielding me with his _mokuton_. I collapsed in the wooden shield.

 **..o0o..**

I woke up in Konoha hospital. No one was around as I was placed in a solitary room. Deep inside, I had wished for my teammates to be there when I regained consciousness, but that was impossible now, wasn't it?

A nurse came in, bringing a flower bouquet. It looked like it had came from the Yamanaka flower shop, yet the arrangement was totally a mess. I lurked, but did not see any card on it.

"Who's that from?" I asked the nurse.

"Naruto. He said he arranged it himself, which is why it is like this." The nurse put the bouquet in a vase and placed it beside my bed.

"He needs to learn more from Yamanaka-san's daughter. Hehe."I forced a laugh. It seemed that Naruto was the only one who cared.

"Oh, before I forget, you can go home today. Tsunade-sama had signed your release form." The nurse informed me. Great, now I could go back home and rest peacefully without anyone interfering. Or should I say 'no one will actually interfere'?

When the nurse left, I recalled the mission we had. Even without the words from the Godaime herself, I knew that failed. They had given me a place to call home, and yet I defended the enemy. And I failed at that too.

I wished that any shinobi would come and visit me, so that I could ask them on the mission result. What happened to Yukimaru? Was Yamato badly hurt? Why did Kakashi called him Tenzou? And would Hana accept me as her friend after this incident? I had so many questions that needed answering. Sadly, I had no answer to any of it.

The door to my room was opened again. This time it was by Shizune, Godaime Tsunade's assistant. She pulled the chair and sat beside my bed.

"How do you feel today, Guren-san?" She asked me.

"Okay, I guess."

"I'll get it straight to the point. There was a council meeting this morning regarding the attack by your..friend." She hesitated to mention Yukimaru's name. I did not blame her. Yukimaru was buried here, but he was not Konoha's citizen nor was he Konoha's shinobi.

"Hmm…"

"Your teammates were present along with all team Seven's members. The merchants that were present during the incidents had filed a case against you, and they almost win it if not for Captain Yamato's assurance on your loyalty. Naruto had backed him up too. They had vouched for it with their lives. Do you know what that means?"

"Yeah..I guess. They'll have to bear the consequences if I betray Konoha again."

"And by 'consequences', that means ending their lives."

"What did the Godaime say? About me, that is."

"She had ordered you to be on house arrest for two months. You will be replaced by Anko-san in these two months." Anko. Mitarashi Anko. I had heard that name before. She was in Anbu and used to be Orochimaru's student. I hadn't heard anything on Orochimaru lately.

"I understand."

"Yamato will escort you back home. He's outside." Shizune left after telling me to pack my things. As if I had ' _things'_ on me when I was sent here.

Taking the bouquet from the vase, I walked outside and approached Yamato on the bench. He was lost in his train of thoughts.

"Hey." I greeted him.

"Hey. Ready to go?" He stood up. I noticed that he was holding a parchment in his hand and quickly put it in his pocket when I greeted him.

"Yeah."

I followed him to my house. When I was accepted as Konoha shinobi, the Hokage let me chose where I would like to settle. I had chosen the far end of the Aburame's compound. Therefore, I would not disturb their privacy, and no one would disturb mine. The Aburame clan was not as proud as the Uchiha, nor as loud as the Inuzuka. I appreciated their modest behaviour as it suited me best. The Nara clan was good, too, but I preferred the Aburame compound more.

Yamato was silent all the way along our route. His hand was in his pocket where the parchment was.

"I heard that you vouched for me. Thank you." I broke the silence, hoping to hear him talk.

"We are teammates. Teammates protect each other." There came his short reply.

"Hana's a teammate. But she didn't vouch for me. She was present, wasn't she?"I did not intend to question Hana's stand on that matter, I was trying to pinpoint his real intention for backing me up. I never think of blaming anyone for sure.

"She was being practical. She saw her teammate defending the enemy. You can't blame her for standing up to her beliefs."

"Then why won't you side with her? Why protect me?" I had expected him to say something like 'for Team Seven's sake' or something like that.

"I just..don't want Naruto to be upset."Bingo! Exactly spot on. What a hunch I had. I thought it would hurt hearing him saying that, but strangely it did not.

"Yeah, right. But then again, I bet Kakashi wasn't happy that you took my side." I saw his face saddened. Gloomy.

"I had no choice. _Senpai_ will understand." His voice was full of sorrow. It might be hard to leave a bad impression to the leader of the team he had longed to be part of.

"…" I grunted.

I had no more say to him on that matter. We walked in silence for the remaining yards. As we reached my house, I saw him eyeing the surroundings.

"Your house area is quite open. They don't even build a fence around the area. Is it okay to leave it like this?"

My house was indeed located in the middle of a clearing at the outskirts of the Aburame compound. In terms of safety, it would easily attract the enemy. I did not even place a protective seal around it.

"I'm grateful that they even give me a house to begin with. Who am I to demand more than this?"

"I'll help you build a fence. At least it will fend off wild animals. Where's the perimeter?" Yamato circled the area. I showed him the perimeter to my house and the markings around it. He nodded and circled that area one more time before he stopped in front of the front door.

After a few minutes of thinking, Yamato built a fence around my house using his _mokuton_. I knew he liked to read books on architecture, but this fence was too beautiful to be true for my liking. The front gate to my house even resembled a wooden floral archway. And he made the fence covered with living plants and flowers. Not too dense, yet it soothed me just by seeing it. As a bonus, there was even a wooden set of table and chairs beside the house for me to relax during the day.

"You don't have to do this, but thank you so much. It's beautiful." I thanked him, though a thank you was not enough to express my gratitude.

"Have a rest. Tomorrow they'll send an Anbu to guard you. I'll come with Hana if we don't have any mission."

"I know. Send my regards to her. Be careful on your way."

Yamato nodded and walked out of my compound. I had a compound of my own now thanks to him and his _mokuton_. Waving him good bye, I saw his back vanished as he teleported himself out from my yard. He left.

The next day, two Anbus were dispatched to my house. One with a cat-like mask, and the other with a dog-like mask. I ignored them most of the time. I had waited for Yamato and Hana to show up, but it seemed like they would not come. Instead, my house was raided by Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. I was pretty sure the latter two were forced by Naruto, but they did cheer me up. The kids were not so bad if you get to know them.

Still, I wanted to see my teammates.

…


End file.
